Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Amaryllis in bloom

I have gotten several Amaryllis bulbs over the years and have kept them alive, with leaves nearly all of the time, but rarely get blooms from them.  About a month ago, my friend, fellow IAS member and plant blogger Jason was at my house standing in the greeenhouse, talking plants.  He's a big Amaryllis nut and I mentioned that I had three growing on the bottom shelf there in the greenhouse.  I mentioned that I just let them grow year round and don't bother forcing dormancy or anything.  He said that is really the best way to grow them.  But, I told him, mine never bloom...  That's when he said, "But, you've got one about to bloom right now!"

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My recent Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) bloom
I looked down to see that one of the Amaryllis had, sure enough, put up a stem, which was growing through the next shelf level.  I carefully removed the plant from the shelves and brought it in the house to a sunny window, where it opened a couple of days later.  None of my plants were labeled - probably from the beginning - since they were grocery store bought bulbs.  But this one has really nice vibrant red and white blooms.  Up close the flower is even more attractive.

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Closeup of Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)
I looked back in my blog history and could only find one other picture of one of my Amaryllis bulbs in bloom.  Thankfully it was a picture of both of the other two plants, so now I know what I have - a solid red, a solid pink and a red and white striped.  I don't know the names, but maybe Jason will help me out with that over time.

4 comments:

  1. Very nice---it you can't find a name from Jason, "Boomer Sooner" would be a great one. :)

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  2. Zach,

    I live in Winston Salem, NC and grow them in the ground. Some years they bloom, some they don't. One bloomed this year. It was gorgeous. I think it was 'Minerva'.

    Thanks,
    Vickie

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  3. Zach:
    Congratulations on the bloom! I never think of growing them here (Zone 6/7) in the summer -- mostly because they're usually sold during the Holidays as part of a bulb-forcing kit. Now that I've seen your Amaryllis, well, now I have some more possibilities. Cheers!

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  4. I live in Brooklyn NY. I have 1 hyppeastrum, usually blooms in late winter and in the summer. It is growing new leaves after loosing those that grew indoors. It looks healthier in full sun on the roof

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